Through Everything, I Love You
by TortoiseNHare64
Summary: Keith asks Lance why people kiss and what it means after observing two Arusians making out. Over time, the questions get deeper and more involved as life intervenes. This is the story of Lance and Keith realizing that they're falling in love. One-shot. I'm really happy with how this turned out. Cross-posted on AO3.


"Are they…kissing?"

Lance followed Keith's line of sight at the two Arusians intertwined.

"Uh, yeah? That's what people do when they're reunited and dig one another. We _did_ just save their planet _again_ after all. They've got a lot of reasons to suck face. You haven't seen people kiss before?"

"Not in real life," Keith admitted, seemingly hypnotized by the two Arusians making out a yard away. "In the movies, sure, but it's not like I was surrounded by various forms of affection growing up."

"Huh. We're always exchanging forehead or cheek kisses in my family," Lance shrugged as he thought about it. "My family is super affectionate. It must be weird for you to think about."

"Not 'weird' but…I don't know," Keith sighed, turning and moving back towards his lion with Lance in tow. "I guess it would have been nice? Hunk's said that I'm 'touch-starved' since I didn't really have a lot of hugs or kisses as a kid. I think it's stupid."

"Seems kind of sad to me. The next planet we save, you should try macking on one of the locals! I bet the chicks would love to get some sweet paladin tongue action."

Keith gave Lance a funny expression which flew right over the Cuban's head. "I doubt any chicks are going to want to make out with me, but thanks for the support I guess."

XXXXX

"I have a question but you have to swear you won't laugh at me."

Lance lowered the magazine he had been reading and peered over the top with a raised brow.

Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he moved to sit on the adjacent couch. Not looking at Lance he continued, "I've been thinking about the whole kissing thing. I get that people do it to like, show affection, but what are some other reasons?"

Lance lowered his magazine even more. "Well when I'd scrape my knee or my elbow as a kid my mom would kiss it over a band-aid to make it 'feel better'. Or when I'd get a smooch on my neck from someone in a club during spring break at the Garrison it would be their way of saying, 'Hey, I think you're hot. Want to make out?'"

Keith's face turned a light shade of red at Lance's honesty but he _had_ asked, after all. "So how do you figure out if a kiss is platonic or romantic or sexual?"

Lance leaned further back into his couch. "Well, that's a hard one. I'd say typically a kiss on the lips means romantic or sexual but I've lip-locked with Hunk and Allura before in a platonic way. So…I guess you have to ask the person? Why? Has Keith finally lost his first base virginity?"

"No!" Keith quickly shouted, going fully red. "God, you're impossible!"

Lance chuckled as Keith stormed off, wondering if Keith _had_ gotten kissed or if he _wanted_ someone to kiss him. Lance wondered who Keith's first kiss would be when a title in his magazine caught his attention and he instantly forgot about the conversation.

XXXXX

"Have you ever kissed someone in a romantic way?"

They had been lying on the floor of the observation deck, looking out through the protective glass above them at the infinite stars surrounding them. Lance tilted his head to peer at Keith. "…Yes?"

"Has someone ever kissed _you_ in a romantic way?"

"Yes."

Keith was silent in reply. Lance turned onto his side and looked at the paladin. "What's with the 20 questions?"

Keith shrugged. "I guess I've just been thinking lately. We could die out here at any moment and I've never had someone share an intimate moment like that with me. There's a lot that I haven't experienced when it comes to relationships – kissing, sex, being in love with another person…I wonder if my time to experience this kind of stuff is limited." Keith turned his head and met Lance's gaze. "I don't have your charisma or charm or natural inclination to flirt with anything with legs. I'm introverted. I don't get how someone like me is supposed to find someone to…" He trailed off with a sigh and looked back out at the stars.

"Well I'm sure there was a backhanded compliment somewhere in there but I'll ignore it for now," Lance smirked, trying to make light of the situation. Turning to look at the stars himself, Lance continued, "You don't have to be any different for someone to like you. You just have to be you. Hell, there were _tons_ of girls – and guys – at the Garrison who all thought you were smoking hot. You work the 'brooding teenager' thing quite well."

"I don't want someone just to see me as hot, though. I want someone who…I can go home to. Someone who will be head over heels for me and accept me despite my faults. I don't want someone who lusts after a paladin. I want someone who wants… _me_."

Lance didn't know what to say. He turned his head and took in the side of Keith's profile. The way the black mullet was splayed out over the floor. The way Keith held his arms and hands tight to his body as if he was trying to protect himself from his negative thoughts. The way his eyes danced across the galaxy above and around them.

"I think you'll find them, Keith. You definitely deserve to find someone like that."

Keith glanced over at Lance with a tiny half-smile. "Thanks, Lance. I hope so."

Lance couldn't reply. He felt out of sorts.

XXXXXX

The mission hadn't gone as planned. A few Galra battle cruisers had been waiting for Voltron to attack and had weakened the machine so much that Voltron had to break apart to fight them off. The cruisers had been reinforced with stronger metals and it had taken the paladins a long time to win the battle. By the time the lions were stored back on the Castle and the paladins had taken off their gear, everyone was exhausted and tensions were high. It was becoming far too easy for the paladins of Voltron to see themselves as failures.

Lance gently knocked on Keith's door. It hadn't been Keith's fault that those Galra had gone undetected by the Castle's sensors but Lance knew that Keith would blame himself for it anyway.

"Dude, come on. Open the door! It's not like everyone who's got Galra blood is mind-connected! It wasn't your fault."

Silence met Lance through the door. Sighing heavily, Lance leaned against the door, pressing his forehead to the cool metal. "I know it's easy to blame yourself but this time it really _wasn't_ your fault, dude. And you've been getting a lot better at this whole leadership thing. I know it's not what you want or what you think you're good at, but we've had way more successes than failures with you at the helm." When the door didn't budge and Keith didn't appear, Lance whispered, "Shiro would be proud of you."

That seemed to do the trick. The door _whooshed_ back and Lance had to catch his balance before he fell. Keith's eyes were red but there weren't any tear paths on his cheeks.

"Shiro should be here! I can't keep doing this, Lance. Even if it wasn't my fault, _I'm_ the temporary leader of Voltron. Every consequence falls back on me. I don't know how Shiro does it but he needs to get his ass back here and take control again. I keep messing up. I don't _want_ this responsibility, I can't – I –" Keith cut himself off as he turned away before Lance could see the tears.

Lance quickly stepped forward before the door could close on him. Reaching out, he gently put a hand on Keith's shoulder and turned him back to face him. Lance lifted his other hand and gently gripped both of Keith's shoulders in his hands.

"There's no one else I'd rather see at the helm of this thing than you."

"Because you want me to fail?"

"'Cuz I want you to win."

Keith didn't know what to say and frankly neither did Lance. So instead, the Cuban pilot pulled Keith tightly against him in an embrace.

It took Keith a few seconds to react but shakily he lifted his arms and held Lance around the boy's middle.

"You can _do this_ , Keith. We all have faith in you."

Keith didn't believe him. But hopefully he wouldn't be in charge for much longer.

XXXXXXX

Lance had been the first one to call him. Keith hadn't been expecting it and had even accused Lance of lying when the Cuban told him of his suspicions. But after visiting and seeing the proof for himself, Keith had had to give in and agree that Lance was right.

Something was wrong with Shiro.

They didn't act right away. It took two months and three weeks before Shiro actually took the first step himself and asked Allura if tests could be done on him to find out what was giving him headaches and memory loss. It was another week after that until the paladins of Voltron realized that Haggar had taken control of Shiro's consciousness and banished the complete Shiro to the far recesses of his mind.

Voltron had had to travel to a distant planet occupied by members of the Blade of Marmorra to release Shiro from the witch's handiwork. While they were waiting for the Blade to finish its work, Lance and Keith found one another in an empty training room. They hadn't consciously been looking for one another, but when Lance walked into the room and found Keith just sitting there, staring at nothing, both teens felt a little bit more at peace.

"I don't think it'll be much longer," Lance began as a way to introduce conversation. "Your group here's got some pretty strong magic stuff."

Keith nodded in reply. "The Blade certainly have effective ways of getting things done. Often too effective."

"What do you mean?"

Keith sighed. "In a sense it's kill or be killed whether you're a member of the Galra Empire or the Blade. I've seen them leave people behind for the good of the mission. Voltron would never do that. Shiro, Allura, hell even you would never do that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Keith quickly raised his hand. "I didn't mean offense. Working for the Blade, it's….I thought that I was doing what was right by leaving Voltron. It was too crowded there. But I'm not exactly happy here either. We're all doing good working and saving people, but…"

A silence stretched on. Lance broke it by shuffling over and sitting down beside Keith.

"You know, since we found Matt, he and Pidge have been sharing Green's cockpit. Or Matt runs diagnostics and science bro stuff from the Castle alongside Coran and Allura."

"What's your point?"

"I'm saying…maybe there's more room in Voltron than you originally thought. It's okay to be scared, man. I'm scared right now. We have no idea if Shiro's going to be okay or how that's going to affect the team and, well, we could use you back. _I_ could…use you back."

"I don't know if the Blade will let me go that easily."

"Well they're not going to keep you captive here, that's for damn sure. Come on, let's go see what your mom thinks. She seems to have a level-headedness about her. Are you sure she's really _your_ mom?"

Keith threw a joke punch at Lance which he easily dodged.

Keith was smiling.

XXXXXX

"There's something I want to say."

"Yeah? M-me too."

"Okay. Do you want to…?"

"No, no, you go first. I insist."

They were standing in front of Red. Lance took a shaky breath and started, "Well…umm…cool news is that my Bayard turns into a sword! I don't think I ever told you that."

"Really? That's neat. I wonder if swords are associated with Red or something."

"I'm not sure. Allura explained it to me but I'm still kind of in the dark. But I'm pretty good with it, as it turns out."

"That's really great, Lance."

They weren't looking at each other.

"So….since I'm pretty good with it, I was wondering if maybe we could spar later? I'm not like, anywhere near your level of coolness with it, but it might be nice to spar…you know…like old times."

"Yeah, I'd…I'd like that."

A few moments ticked by in silence before Lance gave a dramatic sigh and turned to face Keith. "This is stupid. You shouldn't go back! Everyone wants you here, with Voltron! Tell the Blade they can suck it!"

Keith sighed. "It's not that easy, Lance. I have assignments, missions, duties –"

"And you don't have any of that here? When you came back to us last month, I thought that was that. Look at all the good that you've accomplished being here with Voltron! And now you're just going to abandon us again to go run around in a sexy suit?"

"I'm not abandoning you guys. The Blade needs someone who looks human for a mission. I'll come back and –"

" _No_ , you won't. You always say that or imply that but you _don't_ come back, Keith! Not unless there's an emergency or something for your own benefit."

Keith whirled to look at Lance. " _I'm_ doing what's best for the galaxy –"

"No, you're doing this because you're _scared_. You _always_ run when you're scared! But I don't get what you're so fucking afraid of –"

" _You,_ Lance! I'm afraid of _you_!"

Silence.

Lance blinked and confusion was evident on his face. Keith growled, wanting to simultaneously punch him and kiss him. Turning away instead, Keith took a deep breath to steady himself. "I'm scared of the way I… _feel_ when I'm around you. You make me feel vulnerable and strong at the same time. If I stay here, I'm scared I'm going to do or say something that's going to either hurt you or fuck up our friendship. I don't want to lose you so I'm putting space between us."

"What is it that you're afraid of saying?"

Keith didn't answer so Lance took a step forward. And another. And another. Keith flinched and moved back when Lance took another step.

"Lance –"

"Keith, talk to me. What's going on inside that head of yours?"

"I've fallen in love with you."

Time seemed to stop. Lance just stared at Keith, processing the words, as Keith plowed on with, "But – but you don't feel the same so, for the good of Voltron and our friendship and – and everything else, I'm going to go and spend some time with the Blade and –" Keith turned away, not wanting to see the look of disgust on Lance's face, but he was stopped from moving any farther by a strong hand on his bicep. "Lance, please, it's stupid and embarrassing and –"

"I love you too."

Keith had half a second to widen his eyes in response before Lance's lips were on his. The kiss was firm as Lance wasted no time in shoving a hand between the locks of Keith's mullet and holding the paladin's head against his. Slowly Keith realized what was happening and fell into it, his hands coming up to squeeze Lance's hips and hold the boy close to him. Their lips felt perfectly together and Keith thought he had died and gone to heaven.

Eventually Lance was the first one to pull away but he kept his forehead pressed against Keith's.

"I love you, Keith. I don't want you to go."

"Then I won't," Keith whispered back before leaning in and capturing another kiss.


End file.
